About 50 supporters gathered at the Horry County Board of Realtors building Thursday as U.S. Sen. Tim Scott announced his intent to run for the seat he was appointed to last year.

Scott said Myrtle Beach, Horry County and Georgetown County all were instrumental in his successful 2010 campaign to serve in the 1st Congressional District. The 1st District included Horry and Georgetown counties through 2013, when the 7th District was created through redistricting.

“If it were not for Horry County, if it were not for Georgetown, coming together and forming a foundation, I would not be standing here today,” he said.

The event in Myrtle Beach was the third of eight campaign stops scheduled through March 30 to announce his run for re-election, Scott’s spokesman Sean Smith said.

Scott, R-North Charleston, said he hopes to continue his focus on expanding school choice and workforce development if he is selected by South Carolina residents to finish the remaining two years in the Senate term vacated by Jim DeMint. Gov. Nikki Haley appointed Scott to the seat last year. Scott faces no opposition in the Republican primary.

“School choice will help schools across South Carolina and across the country,” he said. “Parents need to have the choice to put their children in schools that are the best for them. There are about 90,000 special needs children in South Carolina that could benefit from some type of flexibility [in schooling].”

He added that in addition to students having the right to choose the best schooling for them, they need to be trained with a higher level of skills when entering the workforce.

“There are more and more highly skilled jobs moving into our state,” he said. “We need workforce development to keep up with the pace of skilled jobs coming into our state.”

Horry County Republican Party President Robert Rabon said he was proud to have Scott representing him, first as a U.S. representative and now as a senator. He urged those in attendance, including many politicians, to support Scott in the election.

“He’s a good, Christian man,” Rabon said. “I support him because of his core values.”

Citing his Christianity, Scott asked any pastors in attendance if it was OK to pray for someone to lose, referring to Coastal Carolina University’s second round game against the University of Virginia on Friday in the NCAA men’s basketball championship.

“I don’t know if you’re supposed to pray for people to lose, but I’m going to pray for Virginia to lose on Friday,” he said, calling the game 73-71 for CCU. “Listen, I’m a black Republican. I believe in miracles.”